Kyriakos Margaritis is Greek-Cypriot writer and editor. He wrote his first novel at the age of 16 and now, in his thirties, he has already published over fifteen. Some of his short-stories have been translated into English and German, while several novels have received prizes. As an editor, working for Psichogios Publications, one of the leading publishers in Greece, he has acquired the works of Catalan writer Care Santos. At my friend David Ventura’s last book presentation for “Someone talks about me”, Care Santos told the public about her Greek editor, she told us about literature in a bailouted country, and she told us about hope. She did this in Kyriakos Margaritis’ words, words that moved me and pressed me to obtain this interview, which she obtained through correspondence with her editor. I owe much thanks to Care Santos for her mediation, to David Ventura for writing his novel, to Amsterdam books for publishing it and to the fact that we came all together to celebrate it.
In your correspondence with Care Santos, you wrote some words to her that she read in public and had a great impact on me. You said that literature is also about our belief and hope. Is there still belief and hope in Greek literature? And in Greek people?
Yes, literature is about our belief and hope and, more or less, about everything that has to do with us, with our life as it is, as it could be and/or as it should be. We write, we narrate, in order to hold on to life, to breathe, in order to create our memories and that is, perhaps, the most important thing, at least as I see it. You know, ancient Greeks used to believe that Memory was the great mother of the Muses…! I think that there is a great truth hidden behind such a belief.
In any case, it’s better to return to modern Greeks, to my people – I am actually a Greek-Cypriot but that’s the same, I think, and I know that you (I mean the Spanish), of all people, can perfectly understand what I mean.
So, yes, you can actually discover hope and belief in modern Greek literature. Despite the fact that, in terms of European history, Greece is a rather new nation (approximately 150 years old!) we have managed to create an important literary corpus of poetry and we are on our way in creating an equally important corpus of fiction/novels. I don’t think that it’s necessary to remind you of works like those of Cavafy or Seferis or even Elytis. We have these wonderful poets, these martyrs of a deeper, inner truth and we can always return to them and discover again and again our true self – the one who is actually capable of loving other people, of being tolerant, helpful, able to realize the changes -even the painful ones- in our world.
Nereida Carrillo 